Conveyer system



L. C. ALLEN CONVEYER SYSTEM V Filed Nov. 5, 1930 2 Sheets-Sheet" 1 L/PT April 25, 1933.

April 25, 1933. L, A LEN 7 1,905,025

CONVEYER SYSTEM Filed Nov. 5, 1930 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 fly. z .27

i W 36 L :26

. navom c. ALLEN. or smacusn,

Patented Apr. 25, 1933 mma-mm; i Application filed: November 8,1980.- .js rmfaogualaa This invention relates to conveyersystems of the general type, comprising travelling.

surfaces having intersecting or adjacent courses of travel and to means for assisting in the transfer of articles from one travelling entered it; Moreover it isfrequently hi hly or conveying surface to another. At pomts of transfer in systems of th1s kind theobjects being transported may be subjected to shocks or to jarring sufliclent to damage fragile articles, such as pieces of china for eziample. There is also a tendency for the articles to accumulate or jam at the} transfer points, and when this happens the articles do not leave a transfer point in the same spaced relation asthatin which they desirable not only to preserve the space relation o fthe articles but-to ac'complishthis without turning the articles appreciably with respect to their courseof travel.

Objects of the present invention are, to} improvesystems of this general class by in-' suring the transfer of articles from one con-. veyer to another without objectionable shocks or jarring; to providevimproved means for veyers ll an transferring articles and for maintaining the same in profperlyspaced relation; to. erring' articles while main- 7 taming them in substantially the same rela-.

provide fortrans tive osition with respect to-their. course of trave and also to provide apparatus of the class described having an improved construction' and arrangement of parts.

Inthe drawings:

Fig.1 is a. diagrammatic, plan view of a .over a drum 19 which is mounted upon a rotatably 'supported in bearings 22 carried by the frame iwork indicated generallyat 23. alike conveyer systelnembodying this invention;

Fig. 2-is a plan view "with parts omitted showing a portion offthe end construction of t Fig. 4. n

The apparatus selected for illustration comprises endless belt conveyers 10, ,11 and p 12, which may, be arranged to follow sub immediately ,adg

. conveying nsurf 7 above and in close *proximity to the upper: run of! conveyor 11. In asimilarmanner'W substantially m bearings 27 carried" .The other end of. each conveyor will be supported "in a similar! onfsuitable manner m accordance with the usual custom. -The end a i Fig. 5 is a plan'view of aportion of frame:

conveyer s trained over end drums 28 deflector apparatus illustrated in 34- moun m e: A m-mo "m elem, or S. CUSELNEWYQEK, acqm' mrxon or l I v p pp p conveyers 13 -and 14; are arranged for con i I veying articles between the conveyers 10 and .11, and another set ofgend conveyersm and 17 are arranged for conveyingarticlesbetween the conveyers 11 and12i The central I the-up-j? per run. of; the beltof this'conveyer "being.

run off conveyer-lO, while; thelower run of conveyer 11 is substantially level with. the upper run of conveyer 12.. 1- :As will" be more apparent [from consideration of Fig." 2,-th'e upper run of the. end c'onveyer' 13 "passes-beneath and conveyer 11 is a two-way conveyer,

Substantially level with the acent the undersurface "of the upper run 0 the upper run of end'conveyer v14 asses be neathand in close proximltyjto e" under; surface of theupperru'n ofconveyer 11 and acrossthe upper-surface of th'eupper run of conveyer 10; The end conveyers 16 [and 17 are arran edto' cooperate'wlth the con 12 in a similar manner so that i articles-travelling. in the direction of the arrows will pass at points of transfer from one conveng surface to -'a lower convey surface.

The co'nveyerlO is trained at one end shaft- 21, the latter "be' manner, the conveyer 1-1 isjtrained'j at one shaft 26, the latter bein' and 29 which" are 'carriedb y shafts 31 and 32..rota'tabl supported 'inbearings .33 and beg onx'the framework The end or assisting in transferring art1- ,cles from; one' conveyer to another, there is provided at:'each point of intersection, or a point of,transfer,,deflector apparatus indi 'cated generaIIyat-IS of. Fig.1.

'conveyer'10 while this same I i ace of. conveyer" 13 passes 3 1 end overja drums24 which is'carried by'a rotatably'mounted y the .frame work.

conveyer 13 is erated from the shaft 26 of conveyer 11, t e shaft 32 beingextended v to a position adjacent to shaft 26 and ower being transmittedvbetween these sha ts by means of bevel gearing 36. The other end oonveyers '14, 16 and 17 may [be operated from one of thev main conveyers 10, 11 or 1 a 12 in a similarmanner.

' er section comprisin preferab The deflector mechanism 18 for each transfer point is'in the form of a live rolla series of closely adjacenti vertically dlSPOSGd, yieldable and which are arranged in an arcuate path at the points of transfer. As shown in'-Fig. 4, thegindividual rollers may. comprise a central rotary shaft 38 and-an outer tube 39 of rubber or other-suitable material vThis.

shaft is supportedin a frame; 40 of chanv be snapped 1 into upper and lower" circum-- duced and disposed in a lower washer 'or' ferential grooves 47, 48 ;for-retaining the bearing cap 42 ,in lposition in; the frame,

Thealower endof the shaft 38 may be re bushing 49 which" fits snutgly-in'thelower 51 restsvon the lower washer an flange 41' of the: frame. upper washer fits about the shaft to provide a bearing for the lower end of the tubular member.39.' This ar-- rangement (p ovides: a compact and yet a ged an ru durable construction which portion 39' of each roller will engage relatively fiat articles, such as plates, saucers,

and the likeas well as: articles of greater hei ht. -c

hese rollers are so positioned with 're-a [spect to the frame as to provide suflicient;

space between the web of the latter and the cylindrical surfaces of-rollers to accommodate an en'dless'belt 52 (Figs. 2 and Thisbelt is trained over idler pulleys53,

54and 56' which are supported in the frame and also over a driving pulle 5,7. These pulleys are arranged to hold t e inner run of driving belt 52in operative engagement with the tubular members 39 whlch coopmanner.

erate with conveyors 10 and 11 and end conve er 13. It will be understood that at ot er points of transfer the deflectors 18 are arranged and operated in a similar A driving I connected b a'coup in 59 to a spee change unit 61 an the, latter is arranged totransy elastic or resilient rollers 37 wupper run 0 es it possible to extend the yieldable orelastic portion 39 of each; roller closely adja cent'to the plane of the conveyingsurface with which the particularroller coo crates. Henceit isassured that the soft,'y1eldable' driving pulley 57' is keyed.

In the operation. of the apparatus the.

mit power to' the shaft 62 oil-which the driving be1t52 is p t a slightly. 2

higher rate of speed thanthe'vconveyer belts 10 and 11.- -With the-particulars stem illustrated, the lower run of the be t of the a,

two-way conveyer 11 is intended to receive the unfinished ,prodn'ctliroml conveyer 12 and this product is carriedinl the direction indicated by the dotted-arrow until it is removed by 0 erators to be finis'hed. "The this two-wa conveyer receives the finished product rom operators,

and delivers this product by means of the" deflector mechanism and' the end conveyer-s to theconveyer 10 where-it is received by ackers. Articles which are not removed" rom either of these conveyors continue to recirculateuntil such time as an is ready to remove same;

As articles, such as example, are transporte attendant by one of the eonvey'ers to a transferpoint they'are brought into engagement with the v relatively soft,

yieldable rotating surfaces of the rollers and the latter tend to gripjthe pieces or articles contacting therewith: As the peripheral,- speed of the rollers is r'eaterthanthat of the belt on which *artic es "are approaching. this station, the yieldable or. gripping en-'- 'gagement of the rollers together with the greater speed of the latter cooperate to tend EIGCGSVOIE china-,for

to pull articles around tothe desired station; I

as from conveyer 10 to conveyer 13 The operating speeds of the rollers and of the, conveyers are so regulated that'the articles passing through a transfer'point' are only turned through a sufiicient angle to maintain these articlesin the same relative osition with respect to their course of trave This is a very im ortant feature especially-where apparatus 0 this kind is used for conveying fragile articles, asinapottery where it is not permisslble to turn pieces of china while in transit in the system. The conveying belts are also relatively thinor small ply,

belts so that ,as an articlepasses from conveyer lOto conveyer 13, for instance,' -there will be only a slightdrop. to the receiving conveyerand consequently it' is assured that or jarring at this point. It Wlll also be obsuch article willnot be dama eclby shock" servedthatat each transfer-point the articles r' pass from a higher to a lower conveyer and thus avoid impacts which would otherwise be produced on direct enga ement'with the edge of a belt should trans er be attempted a from a lower to a higher conveyer. I

The actionof the rotating rollers in en gaging an article causes the latter to turn "about; a vertical axis so that at no time dur ingktransfer is an article pushed'along a;

diameter of itsv base. An article having av circular base, for example, is subjected to a- {the possibility of any objectionable impact 3 even against the soft rollers is thereby prepressure acting along a chord of its .base' and variously shaped articles are turned in rollers are disposed along an arcuate path so that their article-engaging surfaces constitute in effect a travelllng concave wall. Hence as an article'advances alon this travelling concave wall the action 0 each individual roller. is onl to move or turn such article to a relative y slight extent and cluded. t While it is contemplated that in some cases where conditions render this feasible the rollers may be arranged in a straight or substantially straight course rather than along an are as shown it will be clear that when the former arrangement is employed the articles will be subjected to greater internal strains and also to a more direct pushing action as well as to moresevere impacts even against the soft rollers. Obviously these latter conditions should be avoided when handling. more fragile articles, such as pieces of china in the course of manufacture thereof. A further important advantage resulting from the arcuate or concave arrangement of the rollers is that articles having substantiall the same width of the conveyer may pass through the transfer stations as readily as smaller articles without any danger Ofjamming.

Another im ortant feature of this invention is that of aving the rotating rollers arranged to extend across the edge of the approaching conveyer, as conveyer 10, and

along the receiving conveyer, as conveyer 13.-

As articles pass over the edge of conveyer 10 for instance, the gripping action of the roll.- ers with which they are engaged tends to support such articles so as to ease them down gently over the edge of conveyer 10 onto conveyer 13 thereby avoiding any abrupt drop and the impact or jarring incident thereto.

While one embodiment only of this inventhereto and that other embodiments may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as set forth in the following claims.

I claim:

1. Conveying apparatus comprising a plurality of belt conveyers having intersecting courses of travel and having their adjacent surfaces contiguous at intersections of their courses of travel, live roller deflector mechanism at intersections of their courses of travel comprising a series of closely adjacent verticallydisposed live rollers arranged in an arcuate path extending approximately diagonally "across'thejintersection, frames i for rotatably supportin the rollers in this position, and an endless elt in operative engagement with the rollers of the deflector mechanismof at least twointersections for operating such rollers. v A v v 2. The combination with conveyer belts having intersecting courses of travel a and arranged with their adjacent conveying surfaces contiguous at the -inter'section,,the surface of one belttravelin ina' plane below that of the (other belt, 9f eflector rollers disposed-approximately normal to the surfaces of 'thev'belts .ina'substantially arcuate-path I extending at, the intersection of the courses of travel across the upper: belt andalong the side of the. lower belt, and an :endless belt V which frictionally bears upon the rollers and rotates them whereby articles advanced by the upper belt are transferred to the lower belt. l

3. The. combination with conveyer belts"- havingintersecting courses of travel and ar rangedwith their adjacent. conveying sur;

- facescontiguous at the intersection, thesur face of'onebelt traveling in a plane below I. that of the other belt, of deflector rollers-- disposed approximately. normal'to the sur-Y faces of the belts in a substantially arcuate'i; path extending at the intersection of the coursesof travelacrossthe upper belt and along the side of the lower belt, and an-end- 1 less belt, which bears upon. the outer. surfaces of the rollers and is constrained therebyto v follow the arcuate. ath, for rotatin saidrollers whereby ar ticesadvancedby t e up- I per beltare transferred to the lower jbelt. 5 i

f 4., The combination with I conveyer belts if,

for transporting. fragile articles, said belts -52; having intersecting courses of travel, and ar ranged with their adjacent conveying sur-y faces contiguous atlthe intersection, the-suit.- face of one"belttraveling-inaplane below. that of theotherbelt, lof deflector rollers'of relatively soft elastic material disposed 1 approximately'normal to the surfaces of, the

belts" in alsnbstantially arcuate pathextendingat the intersectionjof the courses of traveltacross the upper belt, means for caus-- ing the belts to travel at a predetermined a greaterrela'tive speed wherebythe articles traveling on the upper belt and deflected by the rollers are rotated upon. their vertical axes so that the continue their travel on the lower belt in t e same relative relation as they occupied on the upper belt.

v.11 I speed and means for rotating the rollers at of the belt in a substantially arcuate path extending across the belt, means for causing a Q the belt to travel at a predetermined speed,

and means for rotating the rollers at a greater relative speed whereby the articles de flected by the rollers are rotated "'upontheir vertical, axes so that they leave the belt in the same relative relationv as they occupied on 'the belt. i p 6. The combination with conveyor belts having intersecting courses of travel of deflector rollers by which articles trans orte'd b "one belt are guided to the other be t, said 1 rollers being disposed approximately normal to the surfaces-"ofthebelts in a substantially arcuate path extending at, the intersections of-the courses of travel across the'firstnamed belt and along the side ofthe other belt and an endless belt wllichjrictionallybears upon. and rotates "the rollers whereby the articles advanced by 'the'first belt are transferred to the second belt. '5' 1 7.i'I he combination with conveyor belts 2 having intersecting, courses of travel of deflector rollers by'which articles transported b" one belt are guided to the other belt, said rollers being disposed approximately normal to the surfa'ce'sof the belts ina substantially 2 arcuate." path extending fat the intersections of the courses of travel across the first named belt 'andialong' the-side of-th'e' other belt and an endless belt, which bears upon the outer surfaces of the rollers and is constrained thereby to follow the arcuate path5'for' rotating said rollers 'Wherebythe articles" advanced "by the first belt are transferred to the'secondbelt." m

8. :The combination .with conveyer belts having intersecting courses of travel of deflector rollersby which articles transported by one beltare 'uided to'tl-ie other belt, said rollersj being "dISPOSGd approximately normal'to the'surfaces of the belts inf a subst'anf 40 tially arcl'iatez' path extendingfat the intersections" of the'courses of'travel' across the first'named belt" and "along the side of; the other belt; means 'for' causing the belts to travel at a predetermined speed and means for rotating the mj'llersat'a. greate'r'relative speed whereby the articles transported by the-firstbelt and deflected the rollers are rotated upon their vertical'axes so that they continue their travel 'on the "second belt in the same'relative relation'which they 'occu pied on the first belt; Signed by me at Syracuse,-N YL this 1st day' of Nov; 1930. I H p v 'LAVONT'C. ALLEN. 

